The US Army's new sniper rifle

It looks like a new sniper rifle standard is being introduced into the US military:

News Article:
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003668.html

Full Article:
http://www.military.com/forums/0,15240,146717,00.html

Forum discussion:
http://forums.military.com/1/OpenTopic?a=d...,146717,00.html

Bolt-action is generally considered to be more accurate (AFAIK, most serious competitive target shooters use bolt-action), but the ability to shoot more quickly, not having to work the bolt and move your hands from their firing position, and having a large, easily changed magazine are advantages that anyone can see. I'm glad to see they've come up with a satisfactory weapon that can incorporate these advantages and still have accuracy they deem acceptable. This weapon is also suitable for close-range defense, so carrying a second weapon for this purpose won't be necessary.

Nothing's perfect, but faster firing in a target-rich environment has got to be a good thing, assuming accuracy isn't sacrificed to an unacceptable degree.

The "rough men who stand ready to do violence on our behalf" deserve good quality equipment. I hope this rifle will be regarded as such in the coming years.

Did that article just say we sold our old guns to friendly forces and now we are buying them back to strip them down and turn them into new guns?

Do you realize that means a government contractor made money three times on the same firearm?

1. Sold arms to "friendly" govt's. (First)
2. Bought guns back from "friendly" govt's. (Second)
3. Stripped guns down, then sold them to the US Govt as new weapons (Three)

Holy shit, who the hell makes the decisions.......

I'd prefer to have one of these...

http://demigodllc.com/photo/Magpul-Masada/

The Masada Adaptive Combat Weapon System is a patent pending self-loading rifle platform designed by Magpul Industries of Erie, Colorado. The rifle was initially developed over a period of four months, completely independent of government funding. Prototypes were displayed at the 2007 SHOT Show in Orlando, Florida. The platform is still currently under development and is tentatively scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2008.

The Masada represents an amalgamation of several recent rifle designs, incorporating what is considered by its designers to be the best features of each in a single, lightweight, modular rifle platform. Design features from the Armalite AR-18 (gas system), the FN SCAR (upper receiver, stock, charging handle location), the Heckler & Koch G36/XM8 (liberal use of polymer components), the Heckler & Koch G3 (trigger pack), and the M16 (barrel, fire control group including trigger) are clearly prevalent. The rifle also includes several features developed by Magpul, such as a quick-change barrel/trunnion system, adjustable gas regulator, non-reciprocating charging handle, integral flip-up front sight, and storage compartments located in the stock and grip.[1]

The Masada is currently slated to be available in the first-quarter of 2008 with a starting price of around $1,400 with semi-automatic and automatic versions available.

Atomm wrote:
Did that article just say we sold our old guns to friendly forces and now we are buying them back to strip them down and turn them into new guns?

Do you realize that means a government contractor made money three times on the same firearm?

1. Sold arms to "friendly" govt's. (First)
2. Bought guns back from "friendly" govt's. (Second)
3. Stripped guns down, then sold them to the US Govt as new weapons (Three)

Holy shit, who the hell makes the decisions.......

Selling/destroying the m14's was Clinton-era decision-making FWIW, not that they had a stranglehold on stupid bureaucratic decisions. The new rifle will be entirely new. Prior to this, we WERE using the m14 as a base for sniper rifles, and were buying them back since we had a need for them we hadn't anticipated. They're old, and I guess what we needed didn't justify paying a manufacturer to set up their equipment for another run. The age might've meant it was just as cost efficient to design and produce a new weapon(no one had the dies and equipment any more, and would've needed to start from scratch.)

The US had the 1903 Springfield in use into the Viet Nam war. It seems we're not real good with keeping our sniper rifles up-to-date (though the Springfield WAS a very nice rifle - I'd take one 🙂 ).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1903_Springfield_rifle

I was watching the History Channel, and they did some shows on snipers. It was interesting in that they presented it like the military would prefer that snipers were not needed(or had felt that way in the past, anyway). The shows said they'd train snipers during war, and then drop the training in peacetime. Snipers have historically been looked upon badly - like murderers more than soldiers. This goes back to the American Revolutionary War, and perhaps earlier. It DOES seem like that attitude has changed since Viet Nam, but given the haphazard way we've been equipping the men, maybe until now, it hadn't entirely changed.

Obviously, for years, we've been using old equipment, and cobbling together sniper rifles out of older guns and additional parts. This is cool, in a way, and fine for John Q. Public piecing together a target/hunting rifle, but it's a little disappointing that the government would operate this way. Just doesn't seem like they were treating it as a legitimate need, and it didn't leverage economy of scale.

Atomm wrote:
I'd prefer to have one of these...

http://demigodllc.com/photo/Magpul-Masada/

It looks more like an assault rifle than a sniper rifle.

It is an assault rifle, but I believe it can be made into multiple variations easily. I can't remember if sniper was one of them....

I know when I was looking into the military I had suggested Sniper for myself. I am rather good with a rifle, thought it might be a good fit. The recruiter explained to me how snipers tended to be the outcasts in the service. Not sure if that is still true.

depending on the branch I am sure. Marines have the assault sniper/recon which has to be one bad-ass mofo. The only 'outcast' portion of them is you make fun of em when you spot them. They have to go through hell and back carrying a few dead bodies with them to make the cut though.

Footage, with sound, of the m110.

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003822.html